


pas de deux

by citadis



Category: Yuri!!! on Ice (Anime)
Genre: Fluff, M/M, how their pair skating gala exhibition program came to be, set after episode 7 but episode 12 compliant, some like? analysis of their relationship too, with gratuitous fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-24
Updated: 2016-12-24
Packaged: 2018-09-11 14:19:07
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,572
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8985166
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/citadis/pseuds/citadis
Summary: It’s only after Yuuri wins the silver medal at the Cup of China that Victor brings up the topic of Yuuri’s exhibition program.
In which Yuuri not only has a shot at qualifying for the Grand Prix Final, but a shot at winning. And he doesn't have an exhibition program planned. But he does have an idea.





	

**Author's Note:**

> It's been almost a year since I last wrote anything, and it feels good to be writing again. I've lacked motivation and inspiration, but this basically wrote itself. It's my first work in this fandom, but hopefully not my last. Also, feel free to let me know if there are any spelling/grammatical errors! And sorry if the tenses are off, I need to work on that. 
> 
> Written while listening to some Ravel piano stuff. Particularly [this](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UJK6yZJ8b5Y).

 It’s only after Yuuri wins the silver medal at the Cup of China that Victor brings up the topic of Yuuri’s exhibition program.

They’re lounging in Yuuri’s hotel room, the television turned on but not being paid much attention. Yuuri has his phone in hand, watching his free skating from earlier that day, already on Youtube. Victor is lying on the other side of the bed, browsing social media idly. They sit in a comfortable silence, aside from the mumblings of the television. It’s late, but it doesn’t matter too much. Their flight back to Fukuoka the next day doesn’t leave until midmorning.

“Say, Yuuri,” Victor begun, “you are close to qualifying for the Final.”

Yuuri paused his video, and turned to look at Victor.

“I’d like to think so, yes.” Yuuri replied, “why do you say that?”

“Because, if you qualify for the Final, Yuuri, we need to figure out what your exhibition program will be.” Victor said, smiling at him.

Yuuri had almost completely forgotten. His planned Gala program was lackluster last year, and he hadn’t even gotten to perform it after failing to place in the Final.

“Right,” Yuuri replied, “ah, do you have any ideas?”

Victor let out a laugh at that, and took hold of Yuuri’s hand, which had been idly resting by his side. Yuuri was used to the casual intimacy with Victor, but it still surprised him when Victor would hold Yuuri’s hand as they were doing mundane things like watching television. Yuuri was not accustomed to receiving so much affection, and from his coach no less.

“Yuuri,” Victor said, drawing out the vowel sound, “why would I be the one telling you what to do for your Gala skate?”

Yuuri shrugged. “Last year, Celestino did most of the work for my programs. Even though it was just the Gala, I was still kind of nervous to perform something that I had made myself.” He paused. “I didn’t even get to perform it anyways, so...” He trailed off.

Victor rubbed Yuuri’s wrist with his thumb. “Well, do you have any ideas for this year’s program?”

Yuuri didn’t need to think for more than a few seconds about it. He knew what he wanted to do. He looked away and smiled a little bit.

Victor definitely saw the look on his face. “Oh, so you do know what you want to do?” He said, a smug smile on his face.

“I, yeah, I have an idea,” Yuuri said. He picked up his phone again, and typed in a quick search on YouTube. He turned the phone towards Victor, and he could see when Victor realized what it was. His eyes went wide, and the brightest smile appeared on his face. It’s the video of Yuuri’s performance of the _Stay Close to Me_ program.

“I was really hoping this would be your idea,” Victor said to him, after he’s watched a bit of the video. Even after eight months, seeing the video that brought them together makes Victor emotional. He moved closer to Yuuri, so he’s draped over him in an awkward hug. “I’m so happy that you want to do this, Yuuri.”

Yuuri felt so happy at that moment. He squeezed Victor’s hand gently. They lay like that for a while, Victor leaning on Yuuri, head on his chest, hands entwined. Victor could feel Yuuri’s heartbeat.

Their relationship hadn’t suddenly become like _this_ . It had evolved gradually, from casual touches to Yuuri’s shoulder after practices, to leaning on each other as they relaxed after a bath in the hot spring, to what they had now. Of course, Victor had been naturally flirty from the moment he had arrived in Hasetsu, but Yuuri discounted those moments from their real relationship. It had been real, but Yuuri was nervous then. He was embarrassed, thinking that Victor was teasing him just to tell him later, _oh, Yuuri, you really thought I liked you?_ in that pitying voice of his. He was scared of letting himself show his emotions. Not like now. Now, he enjoyed being intimate and affectionate with Victor.

And affectionate Victor was, shown by the kiss he had given Yuuri at the end of his free skate today. They hadn’t kissed like that before today -- only kisses to the forehead or cheek, and the occasional chaste peck on the lips. Yuuri had selfishly expected Victor to eventually own up and give him a real kiss at some point, but he hadn’t expected him to do it right there, in front of a huge audience and on international television. While he was slightly embarrassed by the fact that it was broadcast all over the world, Yuuri could not have been happier.

There had not been any explicit _I love you_ ’s spoken between the two of them yet, but it didn’t need to be said to be real to them. They both knew it. It was in their soft touches, their comfortable silences, and their shared bouts of laughter. Most of all, it was in their skating. Yuuri spelled out his love for Victor in his programs as clearly as he could, and he confirmed that his message was getting through to Victor when he all but tackled Yuuri on the ice today.

“Victor…” Yuuri spoke, an inquisitive hint in his voice, breaking the peaceful quiet that was between them. He gently carded his fingers through Victor’s hair.

Victor perked up a little bit. “Yes, Yuuri?”

“Theoretically, would you be able to lift someone when you were skating?” Yuuri spoke after a second, quietly.

“Like what they do in pairs skating?” Victor asked. Yuuri gave an affirmative _mm-hm_.

Yuuri could feel the smile erupt on Victor’s face, his cheek was pressed against Yuuri’s chest. Victor turned his body a little bit so that his head was basically in Yuuri’s lap.

“And why are you asking that, _moya zvezda_?” He had a hint of a sly smile on his face. Victor was aware that using Russian pet names for Yuuri never failed to turn him into a blushing mess. He knew what it was that Yuuri wanted to tell him, but was too scared to say out loud, but he still wanted to coax it out of Yuuri.

A bit of a blush tinted Yuuri’s face. He looked away, and gave a little shrug. “You know,” he mumbled a little bit.

“No, Yuuri, I don’t know.” Victor said his name with that drawn out vowel sound again. He knew exactly what he was doing to Yuuri.

“Victor,” Yuuri whined as he looked down at Victor and rolled his eyes. Victor just gave him a wide smile right back. _Such a brat_ , Yuuri thought.

“If you’re wondering if I could lift you, the answer is probably yes,” Victor paused, “shall we try it when we get back to Hasetsu, Yuuri?” Victor was one to say Yuuri’s name a lot in conversation. Yuuri liked that.

Yuuri gave him a quick nod of affirmation, still a little embarrassed by his odd request of Victor. But they would both be lying if they said that the thought of them pair skating hadn’t crossed their minds at some point.

“Yuuri, you indulge me,” Victor murmured. He propped himself up to bring himself closer to Yuuri’s face, planting a soft kiss on his mouth. Yuuri leaned into it. It was much gentler than the surprise kiss today on the ice, given that at this point they weren’t experiencing projectile motion. Now, Yuuri could take his time to enjoy the kiss fully.

" _Solnyshko_ ,” Victor whispered when he pulled away.

* * *

A few days after they return to Japan, Victor and Yuuri were training at Ice Castle Hasetsu. Even though Yuuri had placed highly at the Cup of China, the stakes were even higher at the Rostelecom Cup, taking place in three weeks in Moscow. They were at the rink more often than they were not, now.

They were drilling Yuuri’s quadruple flip relentlessly. Yuuri had no problem getting the proper amount of rotations, but he still had trouble sticking the landing.

“Yuuri, your free leg is still too high on your entry. You're getting the rotations, but you’re lacking the height to be able to get the landing properly.” Victor was on the ice with Yuuri for their training session today, dressed in his characteristic red and white jacket.

“I know, Victor,” Yuuri quietly mumbled to himself. He shook out his legs as he skated forward, alleviating some of the tension he had in his body.

"And you need to work on getting that strong outside edge on the landing,” Victor instructed again, “let’s try it two more times, then a break, yes?”

Yuuri gave a quick nod and skated away. He was just about to enter the three turn to go into the jump when Victor called out to him.

“Free leg, Yuuri!” Yuuri sighed and relaxed, coming around the rink one more time to attempt the jump, without a word in reply to Victor.

He paid special attention to his right leg this time around keeping it lower than he naturally would. Yuuri enters the three turn, brings his right toe down hard and vaults into the air, bringing his arms close to his body, and rotates in the air. In a split second, he’s already coming down, and he focuses hard on landing on his right outside edge.

A second after he comes down and realizes he nailed the landing this time, he hears clapping from Victor, who is skating towards him. Yuuri slows down to meet him at the edge of rink. When Victor has slowed down to a stop beside him, and as Yuuri takes a swig of water, he takes Yuuri’s hand in his and presses it to his lips.

“ _Bez izyana_ , Yuuri,” Victor said softly. Yuuri looked away from Victor, his cheeks becoming even more pink than they already were due to the chill of the rink. Victor lets go of Yuuri’s hand and speaks after a moment.

“Say, Yuuri,” he said, smiling, “if you’re not too tired, why don’t we try that lift, the one we talked about after the Cup of China?”

Yuuri’s eyes go wide immediately in surprise, and a smile spreads across his face. He nods furiously. _Idiot_ , Yuuri thinks, _you probably look like a giddy schoolboy about to get his first kiss_.

“Perfect,” Victor gave a beaming smile at Yuuri, “Now, if I remember correctly—”

“Wait,” Yuuri interrupted, “when was the last time you did this?”

“Oh, not too long ago. I learned some simple pair skating techniques, and I would occasionally practice it with Mila for fun,” Victor explained, “have you ever done it?”

“Oh, no, not really,” Yuuri said, “A few times as a joke, back in Detroit. Never anything real, you know. No, uh, throws or lifts.”

Yuuri thinks back to his time in Detroit. Before practice one day, both Phichit and himself had gotten to the rink early to get in some extra practice. Phichit had jokingly suggested attempting some pair figure skating moves. Their knowledge of any pair skating techniques was based on the other real pair skaters that trained at the rink, and occasionally watching videos online. Celestino would later walk into the rink to find Phichit and Yuuri doubled over in laughter on the ice.

Victor explained the mechanics of the lift to him. It was fairly simple, but there would be no doubt that it likely would not go right for many of their first attempts. He assured Yuuri that they would take it slow, and just give it a try today. The two of them would be skating backwards together, holding hands, building up some speed, when Yuuri would quickly rotate and grab onto Victor’s arms, with Victor grabbing Yuuri’s waist. Victor would lift him straight up and back down. They wouldn’t do anything fancy today, even if it was fairly simple. Victor pulled up a video on his phone to try and show Yuuri how and when he should move his body in accordance with Victor’s.

Yuuri gave a huff of resolve. Victor grabbed his hand, and with his other, gestured in a _ladies first_ motion. Yuuri skated forward, Victor trailing behind him. They made their way into the middle of the ice, and stopped.

Yuuri was definitely nervous, and Victor could see that. He grabbed Yuuri’s other hand in his.

“It’s alright, Yuuri. It’s just us,” Victor told him softly, “and you’ve already impressed me enough today. This is just for fun.” Yuuri smiled at that, and gave a determined nod. Victor placed a gentle peck on his rosy cheek.

“Shall we?” Victor said, and leads the way.

* * *

Needless to say, all their attempts that day are laughable. Every time that Yuuri would accidentally take hold of the wrong part of Victor’s arm, or would be skating so fast before the lift as to make them topple over, Victor never said anything to blame Yuuri. Victor was definitely able to lift Yuuri, even though he had a fair amount of weight on even the largest female skaters.

Two days later, they’re able to get a few attempts in which Yuuri stays off the ice for more than a second. They practice it at the end of their coaching sessions, as a sort of cool-down. It’s a time for them to just laugh and have fun together, to decompress from the high-stress hours of coaching. Victor is always praising Yuuri when they do this, unlike their actual coaching sessions. After the Cup of China, Victor has always been rewarding Yuuri with kisses after their practice sessions, murmuring praise in between each kiss. A lot of the time it's just mundane things like _Oh, Yuuri, your quad flip was just superb today_ , but it still makes Yuuri shudder.

* * *

It’s four days until they’re set to travel to Moscow for the Rostelecom Cup. Yuuri and Victor are resting on together on Victor’s bed, Yuuri fit under Victor’s arm. He’s sore from all their practice today, but managed to land his quadruple flip three times today. The end of the session found them complicating their lift a little more, with Yuuri being able to come into the lift backwards, so that he was facing away from Victor when he was lifted. Victor was even able to complete a full turn when he had Yuuri in the air.

“We could basically compete as pairs skaters now!” Victor had remarked jokingly as Yuuri wiped off his skates when they're sitting in the change room of Ice Castle Hasetsu.

As he browses social media on his phone in the dim light, a thought crosses his mind. It’s ridiculous, but it’s late, and he doesn’t have the same restraint he would usually have when telling Victor his dumb ideas. He sits up, and faces Victor. Victor looks up from his novel at Yuuri.

“What is it, Yuuri?” He asked. 

“I, uh, have an idea for the exhibition program,” Yuuri replied. Victor looked at him inquisitively.

“Please don’t laugh, but,” Yuuri started, voice quiet, “uh, what if—” Yuuri pauses, and Victor nodded for him to continue.

“What if you… uh, did it with me?” Yuuri asked sheepishly, “I mean, if we skated the program together. And maybe added in some fun pair skating moves. If we get better at them. If you want to.”

Victor’s eyes lit up like Yuuri’s never seen before.

**Author's Note:**

> ...and then they immediately go online to order Yuuri a blue version of Victor's costume so that they can match. 
> 
> _moya zvezda_ = my star  
>  _solnyshko_ = little sun  
>  _bez izyana_ = flawless
> 
> Thanks so much for reading! Kudos/bookmarks/comments are appreciated, along with any constructive criticism. I am not the best writer, so I am always looking to improve. Find me on tumblr [here](http://ytev.tumblr.com/)!


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